The last few days, since India won the cricket world cup quarter final against Australia, have been full of frenetic activity in the fans and the media. Speculations that the Who’s Who of Indian politics and Bollywood would be attending were strife. The local media in Chandigarh even reported about a gag order whereby the Mohali stadium authorities were asked to not reveal the final guest list for security reasons.
Finally, in the last few hours before the match, a clear picture of the stars at the event is emerging. Here’s the guest list:
Manmohan Singh andYousuf Raza Gilani: Attending. The prime ministers of Indian and Pakistan, the two cricket playing nations. That they will attend, was something that has been officially communicated well in advance.
Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan & Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Not attending. The Bachchan family, it was being said, had booked advanced tickets for the semifinal match. But Amitabh refuted the claims on his Twitter.com page: “no I am not I am working … and neither is Abhishek going ..”
Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar: Not clear. These are the high profile fans because of whom the security agencies issued warnings asking celebs to stay away…
Abraaz Khan, Arpita Khan: There and taking photos. While Salman Khan is busy with his films, his producer-director brother and sister are keen cricket fans. They are at Mohali to catch the match.
Vivek Oberoi: Already there. The actor has always been a big cricket fan. He is at Mohali cheering the Indian team on the ground (and virtually, on Twitter).
Madhur Bhandarkar, Kunal Kohli: There. The film directors are in Mohali for the match. Maybe, a film on Indo-Pak cricket is in the offing?
Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi: Attending. The number one political family of India will not miss the crucial match. After all, given the number of Indo-Pak wars in the past, the Gandhi family has a personal interest in relations with Pakistan; be it on the cricket pitch or the war turf.
